Accusations of conflict of interest, climate of mistrust and resignations to the municipal council: the mayor of a small municipality of Lanaudière found itself before the Superior Court of Quebec to keep its post.
Nearly twenty citizens of Sainte-Mélanie massaged Thursday morning in a room at the Joliette courthouse to attend the hearing of their mayor, Louis Freyd. The Municipal Commission of Quebec (CMQ) claimed its suspension before the Superior Court of Quebec, considering it in “obvious conflict of interest”.
A trial to dismiss Louis Freyd from his duties should take place by the end of the summer, but the CMQ estimates the situation so urgent that it claims its immediate suspension, pending the trial.
According to the CMQ, Mr. Freyd must be declared Inhabile to sit, because he undermines “the honor and dignity of the function of mayor” and harms the confidence of the population towards the decisions of the municipality.
A suspension is not based on facts and would be equivalent to “the political death” of Louis Freyd, retort his lawyers, just a few months before the next municipal elections.
The genesis of the conflict
Everything starts from a subdivision request that Louis Freyd, real estate promoter, farmer and psychologist, made in August 2023. A week later, the municipality adopted a regulation which prohibits this type of request.
Qualified as incomplete by the director general of the time, François-Alexandre Guay, the request of mayor Freyd was refused in February 2025. The request was not supported by the documents required. When the mayor said he was ready to provide them, he did not benefit from a acquired right, explains Mr. Guay in a telephone interview.
The mayor then operates a flip-flop, seeking to make obstacles to his subdivision project, according to the CMQ. “Since he has been informed that his subdivision project has been refused, Mr. Freyd has used his function to advance his project,” says François Girard, lawyer for the Directorate of Investigations and Prosecution in Municipal Integrity, the Legal Arm of the CMQ.
Wednesday evening, the municipal council adopted a motion notice aimed at repealing one of the regulations that slow down its real estate project. The session was marked by tensions between elected officials and citizens.
Louis Freyd has interests of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” at stake in this regulatory overhaul process led by Sainte-Mélanie, estimates the CMQ.
“Personalities conflict”
“The facts presented [par la CMQ] are only alleged, they are not proven, retorting Maître Erik Lowe, representing Mayor Freyd. We are here because of a conflict of personalities between the mayor and the director general [François-Alexandre Guay]. »
Louis Freyd had however granted a 99 % note in the performance assessment of Mr. Guay, in January 2025, before he left for paternity leave, then of illness, in a context of tension with the mayor.
“It is important that the mayor is suspended because he continues his projects at the moment,” says a citizen of Sainte-Mélanie, Anick Montour, present at the hearing.
Photo Patrick Sanfaçon, La Presse
The citizens of Sainte-Mélanie Annie Guimond and Anick Montour were present at the Palais de Justice de Joliette to attend the hearing of their mayor on Thursday morning.
She believes that the mayor is not the only one to blame for the “climate of mistrust” prevailing in Sainte-Mélanie. “The whole municipal council is there for personal objectives,” she said in an interview, on the sidelines of the hearing.
House sales are multiplying
Joanne Lebel, a native and resident of Sainte-Mélanie, believes that for a few years, several residents of the locality “think about selling their house”.
“The taxes have rose enormously, the salaries of the municipal councilors and the mayor too,” adds Anick Montour.
Despite this salary increase, several elected officials now move away from the municipal council. Municipal councilors Elie Gravel and Karine Séguin have both resigned from their post in the past two years. Advisor Michel Bernier has been absent for months by majority of council sessions.
In an interview, the former director general of Sainte-Mélanie François-Alexandre Guay calls for a modification of the law in Quebec to supervise this type of situation where the mayors carry both the hats of elected officials and real estate developers.
The mayor of Sainte-Mélanie, Louis Freyd, did not wish to grant an interview, invoking the current legal process.
